Armenia is preparing to tighten the fast‑track citizenship route that currently allows ethnic Armenians to obtain a passport without meeting the standard three‑year residence, language and constitutional‑knowledge requirements. The move follows a surge in applications—more than 32,000 filings in 2025, the highest number on record—most of which were submitted by ethnic Armenians holding Russian passports.
Recent application trends
- Pre‑2022: 7,000–8,000 applications per year.
- 2023‑2024: Over 20,000 applications each year.
- 2025: Record 32,000 applications, driven largely by Russian‑based applicants.
Acting Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Armen Ghazaryan announced that draft legislative amendments will be prepared “in the near future” to address what officials see as a loophole that enables Russian citizens to obtain an Armenian passport primarily as a workaround for Western travel bans imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Current fast‑track rules
- Ordinary applicants must reside in Armenia for three years and pass Armenian‑language and constitutional exams.
- Ethnic Armenians are exempt from these conditions and can naturalize without ever living in the country.
Expected changes
Legal experts anticipate that the most likely amendment will re‑introduce a residence requirement for ethnic‑Armenian applicants:
- Article 13(3) of the Citizenship Law currently waives the three‑year residence condition.
- The proposed amendment could require either:
- Holding a valid Armenian residence permit (the lighter option, requiring no verification of physical presence), or
- Demonstrating actual physical presence for a set period (e.g., 60 days over two years, as suggested in a shelved 2022 bill).
Nerses Isajanyan, managing attorney at Vardanyan & Partners, notes that most Russian‑based applicants are not relocating to Armenia; they acquire the passport while continuing to live in Russia.
Unresolved issues
- Citizenship renunciation loophole: Current law allows a person to renounce Armenian citizenship and re‑apply minutes later, effectively nullifying any consequences of renunciation. This is reportedly used to avoid military conscription for minors, with parents removing children from citizenship before draft age and restoring it later.
- Legislative status: The e‑draft register contains no formal 2026 bill amending the Citizenship Law, so the proposal remains a policy statement pending parliamentary action.
Contextual developments
- Migration overhaul: Earlier this year Armenia adopted a comprehensive reform that digitalizes residence procedures, eliminates the ten‑year “special passport” for diaspora Armenians, and introduces an investor fast‑track to immediate permanent residence.
- EU visa liberalisation: Armenia is negotiating a 74‑point action plan with the European Union (November 2025). While citizenship reforms predate these talks, they intersect with broader efforts to align migration policy with EU expectations.
- Other applicant groups: In the first half of 2026, 14,770 Armenian passports were issued, primarily to refugees from Nagorno‑Karabakh. Additionally, up to one million U.S. citizens may qualify for Armenian citizenship by descent, a cohort that would also be subject to any new residence requirement.
The proposed residence condition aims to curb the use of Armenian passports as a travel‑document shortcut while preserving the ability of genuine diaspora members to obtain citizenship. The final shape of the amendment—and its enforcement mechanisms—remains to be clarified by the Armenian legislature.
Source article: www.imidaily.com
